Go2HomePro Home Inspections

Fannie Mae Adopts New Energy Improvement Feature for Mortgage Loans

Thomas — Tue, 19 Apr 2011 17:59:59 +0000

Fannie Mae had previously dropped its Energy Efficient Mortgage feature. It has replaced the feature with a new Energy Improvement Feature. The new feature only applies to the upgrading of an existing home through a purchase or re-finance mortgage. The features of the new Fannie Mae product are:

* The financing of energy improvements found by a RESNET Home Energy Rating to be cost-effective of up to 10% of the as-completed appraisal. This amount is subject to standard Fannie Mae LTV, CLV and HCLTV ratios.
* The cost of the home energy rating can be included as the cost of the energy improvements.
* Appraisers will be responsible to determine the as-completed value of the home based upon the energy improvements that were made.
* Appraisers will also be responsible for verification that the energy improvements being financed were completed.
* Only single family homes qualify.

The rating software programs will remove the old Fannie Mae reports and replace them with the new report developed by Fannie Mae.

For more information see the Fannie Mae at http://www.resnet.us/ratings/mortgages.com

Tile roof turrets: the good from the bad

Thomas — Fri, 01 Apr 2011 22:22:32 +0000

Sometimes when walking a roof you encounter some unusual things. For instance, while inspecting a 5600sq house with a tile roof I came across a turret installation that did not quite look right. It appears during original construction the roofing contractor decided to install the turret without ridge breaks. As the tile graduates it gets smaller, like small pieces of birthday cake. As the tile closes in on the peak, the slices get smaller. Well that is how it works in theory, until you work roof tile. I suppose that the workman could make this happen if time is spent and detailed properly with accurate cuts and placement. However, this application is a shortcut and the installation is quite messy. Notice the mis-sized pieces that have gaps in between? Not only can the small pieces of tile blow off but the 90lb underlayment is slowly degrading with UV exposure and thermal shocks. Tile roofs are designed to last at least 60 yrs. This turret may stay water tight for 10 then the underlayment will have to be replaced. I guess if the original homeowner got a thorough inspection prior to closing w/ the builder this would not be on his plate to fix.

Top of turret

Sample News Blog Post #2

Thomas — Mon, 11 Oct 2010 08:44:00 +0000

This is a sample blog post in the “News” category that will be featured under the main “About Us” page. This blog post can contain any information relevant to industry, HomePro, or anything else you’d like to feature. It’s a good idea to regularly update the site with post like this, as it keeps the search engines coming back to the site and provides more valuable content.

Sample News Blog Post #1

Thomas — Mon, 11 Oct 2010 08:43:06 +0000